1. Field of the Invention:
The invention relates to a method of storing chemical reagents.
2. Discussion of the Background:
Chemical microsensors are playing an increasingly important role in many applications where monitoring of chemical concentrations is required. Chemical microsensors have an advantage over conventional analytical technology in terms of significantly lower cost, lower power consumption, lower weight, and faster response. Chemical microsensors offer the opportunity for remote sensing, distributed realtime sensing at multiple locations, and applications requiring portable analytical instrumentation. The miniaturization of the sensor surface makes it possible to analyze extremely small amounts of sample. Typical chemical transducers encountered in chemical microsensing technology consist of thin films which undergo a rapid change in physical properties when interacting with molecules of interest.
Chemical microsensors suffer the drawbacks of deactivation, limited selectivity and limited sensitivity. The limited number of analyte/film interactions dictates both the selectivity and sensitivity for chemical microsensors. If it were possible to co-administer a co-reagent, both the selectivity and sensitivity of existing thin film sensors could be improved.
Chemical microsensor lifetime is also a problem. The exposure of the film to an analyte sometimes produces irreversible binding and "poisoning" of the surface. Chemical microsensor lifetimes could be extended by regeneration of the film surface through exposure to a reactivating chemical. It would be advantageous to both the selectivity and regeneration processes to be able to inject precise amounts of chemicals near the thin film surface.
Further, chemical microsensors need to be calibrated for quantitative analysis. A known amount of analyte must be introduced to measure the response. Some sensors are very sensitive and must be recalibrated frequently. There is presently no means for delivering micro amounts of chemical agents to a chemical sensor.